


Limited Editions

by Nakira Taisho (nakirataisho)



Series: Miraculous One-Shots [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 00:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11069904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakirataisho/pseuds/Nakira%20Taisho
Summary: Marinette gets a job offer and Chloe makes scenes.





	Limited Editions

Marinette stretched in her room, enjoying the lull in akuma attacks. Sure, the city still needed Ladybug, and they hadn't come close to finding Hawkmoth. So she had plenty to worry about beyond the school year starting up. When she finished stretching, she worked on some things for school, since she was still the class rep.

"You're doing really good with the multi-tasking…," Tikki noted, hovering beside the computer.

"Practice makes perfect, right?" she sighed.

"Marinette!" her mother called. "You have a phone call!"

"Weird…," she muttered, putting her pen down and going downstairs. "Who is it?"

"A gentleman from the department store," Sabine said lightly, holding out the phone.

"Okay…," she said slowly, taking the phone. "This is Marinette…"

"Ah, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng," a man replied. "I'm the manager over brands and merchandising at the department store. And we have a proposal for you."

"Brands and merchandising…? I'm not sure I understand…what kind of proposal?"

"We would like to have you create sleepwear in honour of Ladybug and Chat Noir," he said lightly.

"That's…interesting. May I ask how you…came to the decision of inviting me to this project?" she asked, trying to channel her parents' business tones.

"Our first choice, naturally, was Gabriel Agreste, but when he refused the project, he recommended you by name and provided us with this number."

"I see," she managed to keep her tone even. _Gabriel Agreste_ had recommended her by name. "Would you like to arrange an in person meeting to take a look at my portfolio before either of us makes a decision?"

"That won't be necessary. Monsieur Agreste was adamant that you had the necessary skills. In fact, he said that you are quite gifted."

"Really?" she barely managed not to squeak the word. Her _idol_ had said that about her? When he'd only seen one or two of her designs? She cleared her throat, tucking her jubilation aside for the moment. "Well, I'll consider the project. On one condition."

"Name your fee."

"It's not a fee, per say…but something that would go along with honouring Ladybug and Chat Noir. All the profits from the sleepwear must go evenly to the Children's Hospital and the city animal shelters," she stated, making sure to sound firm and unyielding.

"That's reasonable. We'd already considered donating a portion of the profits to charity."

" _All_ the profits," she repeated. "And I'll require the agreement in writing before I do any sketches or prototypes."

"Agreed. We can meet at the Grand Paris' restaurant tomorrow for lunch to discuss details," he replied, sounding a little excited. Marinette smiled a little.

"Tomorrow is a school day, but I can make it to the hotel during my lunch period. I can be there by twelve thirty."

"I'll make the reservation, then," he agreed. "And if you wanted to bring your portfolio anyways, we might be able to discuss other lines as well."

"That would interest me very much."

"See you tomorrow then," he said lightly.

"Tomorrow at twelve thirty," she agreed. She waited a moment for the line to go dead before she ended the call and set the phone down.

"Well?" Sabine asked, nearly vibrating with excitement. She relayed the specifics of the conversation to her mother, barely containing her own excitement. Already, she had designs in mind.

"And I should go put my portfolio together because he was interested in other lines, too," she finished, heading back to her room. Before Tikki could ask, she launched into the explanation and got to work on the portfolio.

* * *

Marinette kept the meeting a secret from Alya, since she didn't want to get hyped up about it and things go sour for her potential brand. Fortunately, the meeting went well and the manager was very adamant on anything big being done when she didn't have school obligations. He'd insisted on paying her a fee to do the pyjamas, and she agreed to it being given to the Children's Hospital.

"So where'd you go for lunch?" Alya asked her when they met in front of the school before afternoon classes. "I went to your house to hang with you and your parents said you were out."

"Oh, um…I had a meeting," she replied. "Sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want to get all hyped up just in case things went south…"

"What _kind_ of meeting?!"

"With a guy from the department store. They wanted to have a look at my portfolio…to see if they would have my 'brand' starting in summer."

"And? How did it go?!" Alya practically bounced where she stood.

"It went well," she said lightly. "They'll get with me for a winter line and the summer, because they don't want to interfere with my school obligations."

"OMG! That's great!" Alya gasped. "How'd they get your name anyways?"

" _Gabriel Agreste_ told them to call me," she explained. "And you can imagine the pressure knowing he'd called me talented…if I'd botched the portfolio…," she trailed off; glad her worst case scenario hadn't come to pass. And she had the contract for the sleepwear in her bag.

"Wow…guess you made a good impression on him, huh?"

"Clearly…"

"But why call you at the end of summer if they wanted to do stuff for winter and next summer?"

"You'll find out in a couple of weeks," she said lightly. "It's a secret project."

"Oh, come on! You can't even tell your BFF?"

"Nope. You have to wait like everyone else," she laughed, going to their classroom.

* * *

Alya pestered her the whole week, and Marinette was very careful to keep her friend out of the loop. She had the fabrics for the pants dyed, and she had the Ladybug set put together. She'd already put her Ladybug signature on the shirt where it belonged and she'd put the 'tag' where she wanted it. The finishing touches were put on the corresponding sleep mask and she'd already gotten the one to go with the Chat set finished.

"Why are you putting so much detail in the Chat set, Marinette?" Tikki asked her as she worked on dying the Chat Noir shirt.

"Because he's underappreciated," she sighed. "You saw those news reports from when we went camping…"

"Right…"

"Oh no!" she gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot to get his signature! I need that for the limited set…," she groaned, grabbing her sketchbook and hid the things she'd been working on. "I also need to make sure the pants will fit a male…"

"So ask Chat Noir to come try it on," Tikki sighed.

"Good idea, Tikki." She rushed out of the house and went searching for Chat Noir. She hoped he would be out patrolling. She found him leaving one of the animal shelters. "Chat Noir!" she called. He jolted and turned to her.

"Oh, Marinette…is something wrong?" he asked, looking worried. She shook her head.

"Do you have some time? Just about half an hour…"

"Yeah," he said lightly. "I was just about to call it a night."

"Great! You remember my address?"

"Twelve Rue Gatlib, right? Over the bakery." She nodded and started to head home. "It'll be quicker if I carry you…unless you'd rather walk?"

"R-right…it's fine," she laughed. He gently put his arm around her and extended his baton.  Her heart raced, despite traveling like this as Ladybug. Something about not having the powers active was thrilling. Before she knew it, they were on her roof and Chat had set her down. "First, you have to promise to keep these designs a secret."

"You have my word," he said solemnly. She nodded and went into her room. He followed and she uncovered the Ladybug set. "Wow…are those pyjamas?"

"Yeah. The Chat Noir set isn't finished yet…"

"The… _Chat Noir_ set?" he gasped. She nodded and showed him the sketch. His eyes went wide. "There's so much detail…!"

"Yeah, well…I figured that you're pretty underappreciated, so this is my way of showing appreciation…," she said, trailing off. "Anyways…can you try on the completed set? I need to see how it fits on a male…"

"No problem," he laughed. Chat grabbed the set and put it on carefully. When he was done, she checked it, tugging the drawstrings and looking at how it hung on him. She nodded and he took the clothes off.

"And…can I have your autograph?" she asked, holding out her sketchbook and pen. He nodded, looking at her with the brightest smile she'd ever seen. He signed the page and she smiled at him. "Thanks."

"So…what are these for?"

"The department store. A thank you to you and Ladybug," she explained. "And all the profits from the pyjamas are going to the Children's Hospital and the animal shelters."

"That's really cool, Marinette," he said, grinning.

* * *

On the day of the release of the pyjamas, Marinette went to the store early to check on things. There was a line of tents along the street. She smiled a little and went into the store. Not surprisingly, Chloe was standing outside the curtain hiding the display, making a scene.

"What do you mean I can't see them?!"

"Just what I said, miss," the employee sighed, probably not for the first time. She shook her head and went into the curtain from the back side. "You'll have to wait in line like everyone else…"

"Do you _know_ who I am?!" Chloe raged. Marinette tried to ignore her as she helped put the finishing touches on the displays. Finally, she heard Chloe storm out of the building, shouting the same thing she always did when defeated: "Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!"

"Honestly…," she sighed. "With as long as the line is, we won't even have to lie about availability…"

"You were going to suggest we lie to her about the availability of her size?" the employee nearest to her asked softly.

"It would serve her right after that scene…," she sighed. When they finished setting up, Marinette stepped out to let the store's owner and the manager she'd been working with know that everything was ready. They nodded to the cameraman and Nadja and the reporter went straight to it.

"We're live at the unveiling of the highly anticipated pyjamas designed by _lycéenne_ , Marinette Dupain-Cheng in honour of the city's heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir," Nadja said lightly into her microphone. Marinette smiled and waved a little. "Before the big reveal, anything you'd like to say?"

"Just 'thank you'," she said with practiced ease. "Thank you to Ladybug and Chat Noir for keeping us all safe. Thank you to the people who I've had the pleasure of working with on this project. Thank you to the managers who organized this in the first place. And thank you to everyone who came here today for the unveiling."

"And…," the owner added. "We have donation boxes set up on the displays for anyone who would like to give a little extra at the event. One for the Children's Hospital and one for the animal shelters."

"I think the donations are a big reason everyone's been so looking forward to this reveal," Nadja noted.

"Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng?" the manager said, offering Marinette the rope to drop the curtain. She nodded and took it. "And without further ado, the Ladybug and Chat Noir pyjama line." Marinette pulled the rope and dropped the curtain on cue and they stepped aside as people started coming inside, surprisingly organized.

Adrien was the second person in line, and he bought both sets before he started wandering the store. By the time Chloe finally managed to get back inside, they were out of the extra small and small sized limited editions, and they had two mediums left. Not surprisingly, she started raising hell. Marinette rolled her eyes as the owner dealt with the mayor's daughter's tantrum. After probably half an hour of arguing, Chloe finally bit the proverbial bullet and bought a standard edition in small and stormed out of the building.

"She'll probably ask you to hook her up with a signature…," Adrien sighed, coming up behind Marinette. She yelped in surprise, but managed to collect herself rather quickly.

"It'll cost her…a cent for every instance of abuse and bullying…"

"That's gonna be expensive for her…," he noted.

"About three hundred euros. And I might double it if my name ends up in a tabloid attached to hers…," she sighed.

"Harsh…but reasonable. I like it," he laughed. She smiled at him. "It almost deserves a kiss."

"What?" her voice came out as a squeak. She figured he was probably joking, but it was the kind of joke he rarely made (likely because of his image) and she couldn't help the leap her heart made at the slight possibility he was being serious.

"What?" he echoed. She stammered, trying to ask if he was joking or not, but she got her answer when he planted a light kiss on her cheek and hurried out of the store. She could feel the heat of her blush; sure her entire face was red.

"Are you all right?" someone asked her. She squeaked a little and fainted.

* * *

The next day at school, Nino and Alya both had their phones focused on Marinette. She blushed a little, answering their questions about the pyjamas and the event the day before. She'd invited them both, but they'd only stopped in to purchase their own sets before going on a date together. As they walked into the school, she found that everyone had questions for her. She patiently answered as much as she could on her way to class, and when they arrived at their destination, Nino and Alya turned into makeshift bodyguards and sent the other students on their way.

"Thanks…," she sighed, sitting in her seat. Alya sat beside her and pulled out a couple of tabloids.

"So…another thing I've got questions about…," she sighed, opening the two magazines to specific articles. One was about her fainting spell and the other was about Chloe. "Why'd you faint?"

"Adrien kissed me."

"What?!" Alya gasped.

"He kissed me," she repeated. "On the cheek…so it wasn't serious…"

"OMG!"

"And I was a stammering wreck…I haven't broken down into incoherent stammering with him in _months_!"

"Yeah…that's a setback, but girl! And the Chloe article?"

"They almost kicked her out of the store, and yes I did get snippy when they asked if she was friends with me. Apparently she'd been muttering about calling in a favour from the designer on her way out."

"Yeah, according to this, she claimed you were a good friend of hers and it would be super easy to get you to get hold of Ladybug to sign the pyjamas."

"I know. And if she asks me for the signature, I'm charging three hundred euros for it…and three hundred for the sleep mask if she demands one."

"Nice. And you seriously called her an 'insufferable bully'?"

"I didn't say insufferable…," she sighed. "But I did answer their question about if I knew her…"

"You're too nice, Marinette…," Alya sighed. She shrugged a little.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien greeted, coming into the room. "Sorry about yesterday…"

"I-it's okay…you just surprised me…," she sighed.

"I sort of acted on impulse…"

"Right…," she sighed and Chloe came into the room with Sabrina, carrying a designer sack. "And here we go…," she muttered just before Chloe came to her and dropped the bag on the desk. "What's this? An apology gift? Sorry but unless it's the brocade I was eying last week at the craft store, I can't accept." Alya and Nino both snickered at that.

"What?" Chloe gasped. " _No_. It's those pyjamas I bought yesterday. Will you please get Ladybug to sign them for me?" Marionette blinked in surprise and glanced at the others. Chloe had said please unbidden.

"Okay," she said lightly. "That'll be three hundred euros and an apology for yesterday."

"What?! Why so much when even the limited wasn't even fifty?!" Chloe griped just as the teacher came into the room and quirked an eyebrow.

"Let's see…one cent for every instance of bullying or abuse."

"And you got three hundred out of that?" Chloe scoffed.

"Let's see…three times a day during school since grade school…at least twice a day during breaks…in all honesty, that actually comes to closer to a thousand but I'm being generous since you said please unbidden."

"Whatever and you're giving me the sleep mask too, right?"

"If you have another three hundred on you."

"I don't carry that kind of cash! I can give you a hundred fifty now and the rest when you get it back to me," she argued.

"With that attitude, I should charge you the full thousand…," she muttered. "Especially after the crap you pulled yesterday…"

"Fine…three hundred now and three hundred when you get it back to me…"

"Six hundred right now," Marinette said firmly.

"I don't have that much cash."

"I take cards." To demonstrate, she pulled her phone out and plugged a card reader into it. "Six hundred now or no deal." Chloe whined as she pulled her card out of her wallet. Marinette typed the amount into her app and ran the card. After a few seconds, 'declined' came up on the screen. "Declined…guess you've been cut off again." She handed Chloe back the card, smirking.

"I haven't been—" the blonde was cut off by her phone ringing. She frowned and answered it. "Daddy, I'm at school… _what_?! But why?" she whined. "That's not fair! You're where?" Chloe winced and looked at the teacher, who was patiently waiting for business to finish. She hung up and groaned.

"If you're quite finished, mademoiselle Bourgeois…you're needed in the principal's office," the teacher sighed.

"Fine…," she groaned, slinking out of the room with her bags.

"Until I return, take the time to read the current chapter of your texts," the teacher instructed them before following.

"Dang, Marinette, you roasted her," Nino laughed. The entire class broke into applause for a moment before they all moved to follow instructions.

* * *

Marinette got the signature taken care of that night and made the sleep mask. She already had plans to make a dress for the fall formal with the brocade she'd got with Chloe's payment from the afternoon. Of course, she had permission to draw it out as long as she wanted. By the time Chloe's week of suspension was up, she'd decided not to be that petty and give it to Chloe on her first day back.

Of course, Chloe ruined that plan by demanding the pyjamas the moment she'd arrived at the school. So, Marinette decided to take it by the day. It ended up dragging for three weeks. Chloe seemed to be getting closer and closer to a breaking point. Finally, Chloe rushed into the classroom and slammed her hands on Marinette's desk, startling her.

"Do you have it yet?!" Chloe demanded quickly, her words running together.

"It's at home," she sighed, taking pity on the girl.

"Then _please_ bring it after lunch," Chloe said, calming down a little. Marinette nodded and Chloe went to her seat.

"I was wondering how long you were gonna torture her…," Alya sighed quietly.

"I'm taking pity on her at this point…," she told her. "She looks about to break…"

"You're right about that…"

The rest of the morning passed in silence and as promised, Marinette brought the pyjamas and sleep mask to school, setting the bag on Chloe's desk. Chloe screamed in excitement and hugged the bag tightly. Marinette shook her head a little, knowing that the attempt to teach Chloe patience had probably failed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on tumblr [@sorcerymuses](http://sorcerymuses.tumblr.com)


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